Women who nurse their babies frequently incur a myriad of different problems. Some problems include chafed, cracked or oversensitized nipples. Other problems involve the leakage of breast milk during and between nursing periods. Breast milk that leaks may stain overlying clothing, or worse, chafe the nipple, cause infection or assist in the growth of bacteria that may cause mastitis.
The prior art has provided numerous attempts at addressing these issues. Breast pads have been used for years to wick away breast milk from a leaking nipple and attempt to prevent the passage of the breast milk to overlying clothing. However, breast pads are disposable and can incur a considerable cost over time. Moreover, breast pads are only partially efficient at truly drawing moisture away from the nipple. More importantly, the breast milk absorbed by the breast pad is simply thrown away with the breast pad. This can amount to the waste of valuable breast milk that could be stored or used to top off a bottle of expressed breast milk. Furthermore, breast pads are placed directly against the nipple, which fails to address issues, such as chafed, cracked or overly sensitive nipples.
Another prior art device, disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,012 teaches a two-piece breast shield. The shield is comprised of a hollow cup member that receives a lid, which is conformed to the shape of a woman's breast. An opening is disposed through the center of the shield, through which a nipple may be passed. The shield serves to collect milk that may leak from the nipple and further limits contact between overlaying clothing and the nipple. While such a device addresses a number of issues experienced by women, the device suffers from a number of shortcomings. First, a small port is provided in the bottom surface of the cup in order to allow milk to be poured from within. However, the small port is positioned in an area that would prevent the woman from placing the container on a horizontal surface for a few short moments while tending to her baby. If a woman were to lay the cup down, any expressed milk would simply pour from the port. Furthermore, the opening provided is far too small to provide any airflow around the nipple during use and releases only a small stream or several drops of milk at a time when the milk is being poured from within the cup.
Another prior art device disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,103 teaches a breast shield that is also provided with a cup-shaped base. However, an elastic member is used as a lid for closing the base. An opening is formed through the center of the lid to permit passage of a nipple therethrough. The base is provided with a plurality of openings in order to permit proper ventilation of the nipple during use. However, while this solves a ventilation issue, it worsens the problem of preventing a user from simply laying the device down immediately after use. Furthermore, pouring expressed milk from the device can be a challenge due to the plurality of spaced-apart openings.
Such prior art devices suffer from additional shortcomings. First, none of the prior art devices provide any manner of recording whether the device was used on the woman's left or right breast. Breasts create a milk supply on the basic principal of supply and demand. It is important to stimulate and empty both breasts by nursing on both sides as equally as possible. Due to the frequency of feedings, and the late hours at which the feedings may take place, it is easy for anyone to forget which breast was used for nursing last. Various prior art methods and devices have been created to address this specific issue. For example, many woman may use stickers or safety pins with a brassiere cup in order to identify which breast was most recently used to feed their baby. Other prior art innovations have come in the form of somewhat complex nursing journals that must be completed, oftentimes in the dark, after each feeding. Other, more simple devices include bracelets that may be worn on the user's arm in order to designate the breast that was most recently used to feed the baby. However, such systems and methods are cumbersome, and are inconvenient for use during late night feedings in the dark. More importantly, they simply add to the methods and devices being employed, such as where a prior art breast shield is being used. Increasing the number of devices to be used or increasing the complexity which a woman must endure while nursing creates more problems than it solves.
Accordingly, what is needed is a novel system and method for collecting milk that is leaked from a breast during or between nursing sessions. Such a system and method should limit direct contact with the nipple area and provide a reasonable degree of air flow thereto. However, a truly useful system and method will increase the volume of milk that may be received by the system, make late night feedings easier, and provide a manner in which a woman may keep track of which breast was most recently used to nurse her baby.